Information

This exhibition  includes several works on paper by Yasemin Cengiz Cagatay and sculptures by master sculptor Yücel Kale.

Inspired by masters of the past, Kale's structures remain enigmatic, filled with paradox and wonder. Some have a melancholy feel, while others tend to the sublime, substituting the purely functional for phenomenological experience.Throughout his career, Kale has experimented with ideal forms, coming up with witty animal figures, such as alligators and elephants brimming with poetic grace.In these and other sculptures, Kale has paid tribute to some of the great pioneers like Picasso and Tiffany, and considered specific moments or figures from the past. He aims to construct a powerfully visual narrative, evoking the simultaneous feelings of awe and dread that suggest a poetics of sublime.Kale' luxurious icons  engage the viewer in a metaphysical dialogue with cultural history. The cultural heritage of Anatolia meets the witty works of Picasso.

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In her technicolor works, Cagatay deals with swaths of color, which she orchestrates into phantasmagoric  yet deeply meditative works. Her translucent color planes are influenced by the limpid light of İstanbul, and the artist uses separate touches of interwoven pigment resulting in a greater vibrancy of color.Her manner of weaving and layering small brushstrokes  achieve a tapestry-like paint surface of complementary and contrasting hues. Cagatay’s work presents an apparently spontaneous- but in fact carefully plotted- accumulation of brushstrokes. Staccato arcs and dashes of marigold, mauve, dark berry, and brown seem to leap off the canvas. Colors overlap and mix on the picture’s surface, dense paint merging with liquid drips. She meticulously applies each color, attentive to the relationships between them and to the weight of each brushstroke. In her abstractions, she detaches color from physical description and uses it independently. The artist's work creates chains of association in the juxtapositions of dots borrowing Signac's sharp eye for compositional references. Cagatay works through the broad spectrum of gestural-abstract formal languages in order to open up each painting to surprising new possibilities.Her inclination toward opulence and extensive allover painting derives from her exuberant nature.

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Yücel Kale is an Istanbul based established artist,  who began his artistic career two decades ago studying sculpture at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts  University, Istanbul (1993-2000).  In 1997 Kale had his first large-scale solo presentation with C.A.M Art Gallery, Istanbul. His work has been exhibited  solo or as part of group exhibitions internationally at fairs -Art New York 2017 , Aqua Art Miami 2017, SOFA Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design, New York (2008), ST-ART Strasbourg Contemporary Art Fair, France (2009), Frankfurt Book Fair, Germany (2008), Asia Pacific Leather Fair Hong Kong(2014), Contemporary Istanbul (2006,2012, 2013)-; at museums, -Museum Der Arbeit in Hamburg, Germany(2009) and Santa Maria della Scala Museum, Siena Italy(2008); at Portside Gallery in Yokohama, and at Youkobo, Japan(2004). The artist had also many solo exhibitions nationally,  at many established galleries including Galeri Apel, C.A.M. Art Gallery, Galeri Selvin, Imoga Art Space and Siyah Beyaz Art Gallery. His works are held in private collections.

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Yasemin Cengiz Cagatay grew up in Istanbul with an art teacher mother who surrounded her with paintings and art history books. She taught her painting as a child, and introduced her the work of the masters, which inspired the artist from a young age; leading to national art prizes - including a first prize in a nation wide art competition when she was a high school senior. She has studied from 11 to 19 years old in Lycée de Galatasaray, a major establishment having formed the politicians and artists of the country. She had the opportunity to use the school’s art studio on the Bosphorus exclusively. The French influence she received in this centuries old school with a blend of French and Turkish curricula reflects in her paintings. She has been invited to the major art academy of the country, and studied at Bosphorus University Business School; which also taught a rich humanities program. The artist pursued an executive career working as a management committee member for multinational companies, and quit to indulge in her passion for art. She gave herself a tailored art education, living in art centers - Paris, London and New York- and studied contemporary art at the programs of IESA Paris, Sotheby’s Institute of Art London and New York. 

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